A Little Mistake
by Dragon rider pippin
Summary: Pippin is tired of being classified as 'too little' to do anything. He decides to prove that he isn't as little as they think... This takes place when Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin are young hobbits in the shire. Don't insult me too bad I'm new at this
1. Chapter 1

"Guys, wait up!" pippin yelled from behind. Merry turned around to see his youngest cousin trying to keep up with them. Merry and Frodo stopped and turned around to see the youngster starting to catch up. "Your going to fast…" panted pippin. Merry looked at Frodo questioningly. They both knew that pippin couldn't keep up with them. "Look pip" Merry said as he knelt down in front of his younger cousin. "Frodo and I are playing a game-" "-I wanna play!" Pippin interrupted. Merry winced. "Well….young hobbits, like yourself, can't play…" Merry beat himself in his mind. That came out harder than he meant it to. He saw tears start to form in young pippin's eyes. Merry glanced back at Frodo, not knowing what to do. "Err…Look pip….what merry means is….he doesn't want you to get hurt…I got it….why don't you go back to Bag End and you can sit down and maybe Bilbo will read you a story, or maybe you can go play with some of the younger hobbits." The tears were running down his cheeks now. "But I wanna play with you!" he said through his tears. "I promise we'll play with you later, pippin. Right Frodo?" Merry asked hoping for support. "Yes we will" Frodo said as he knelt beside Merry in front of Pippin. "And we'll have lots of fun. Ok?" He looked at Merry. Pippin hung his head "…Ok…" he mumbled. "Alright good, we'll see you later. Now go back to Bag End so you don't get hurt. Bye pip" Merry and Frodo got up and ran down the path.

~*~

Pippin had never felt so little. He walked down the path kicking a pebble. 'They always treat me like I'm so little' pippin thought. He had to do something to prove he wasn't a little kid anymore, but what? Then he saw it. He just had to find a way to do it.

~*~

"Frodo do you think we were to hard on pippin?" Frodo put his arm around Merry's shoulder. "It will be ok, we just didn't want him getting hurt, and you don't have to deal with him following you around today. You can do what you want without having to look out for every single thing he does" "I guess" Merry mumbled. They were walking down the path in silence when they heard someone run up behind them. "Hey, Frodo…Merry" He said as he rolled his eyes. "What do you want Wendeck?" Merry asked with a groan resulting with a slight elbow in the rib from Frodo. "Hey where's the baby at? Your not playing babysitter today Meriadoc?" Wendell said his name slowly, with a snicker. Merry turned on him. "What did you say?" "Oh, nothing.." Merry continued down the path with Frodo again. Wendeck ran back up to them "Just the fact he's a little baby and can't do anything" he said with a smirk. Merry turned on him grabbing him by his shirt collar. Frodo grabbed Merry's arm. "You leave Pippin out of this! You understand? He isn't a little kid anymore!" Merry winced inside realizing what he had done. He had accused Pippin of the same thing, just like Wendeck. "So what are you going to do then, Meriadoc? Beat me?" Wendeck said trying to make Merry do something he's regret. They all froze for a second. "Nothing" Merry said as he dropped Wendeck. "C'mon Frodo, let's go find Pip." Frodo felt proud of Merry. He smiled and they walked down the path heading back to the way they came from leaving Wendeck sitting on the ground staring in disbelief.

~*~

Pippin looked up. The tree was really tall. Just what he needed to prove he wasn't a little kid. He started the climb. It was a long way up…and a long way down.

TO BE CONTINUED….


	2. Chapter 2

"Where is the little guy now?" Merry asked with a worried look on his face. Frodo chuckled "Merry.."

Merry turned around to see Frodo with his arms crossed staring at him. "What?!" Merry asked as he threw his hands up in the air. "First of all you just called him a 'little guy' and second, he'll be ok. He's got a great older cousin that's taught him everything he knows." Frodo said as he placed an arm around Merry's shoulders. "Thanks Frodo" Merry said with a weak smile. "Oh, I was talking about me" Frodo said with a huge grin. Merry Laughed and playfully shoved him. "C'mon we still need to find him before dark." He ran up the path with Frodo right behind him.

~*~

Pippin had been climbing for a few minutes now. The Oak was a lot taller than he thought. He lost his footing but quickly regained it. He stopped and sat on a big branch. Climbing trees sure was tiring, especially after recently recovering from the flu. "Hey squirt" yelled a familiar voice from below. Pippin looked down to see Wendeck standing at the base of the tree looking up at him. "What do you want, Wendeck?" pippin shouted back. "Oh nothing…I just saw Frodo and Merry having fun and was wondering why you weren't with them." Pippin got angry all of a sudden, he squeezed the branch he was holding onto tighter. "But I see your climbing a tree…Is that really as high as you can go? I see why they wouldn't let you play with them." Pippin's eyes stung with tears as they silently ran down his face. He stood up and started to climb higher. "This should be good" Wendeck laughed quietly to himself as he sat down.

~*~

Sam was walking down the path enjoying the nice spring day when he heard shouting voices. He stopped and listened. He couldn't make out what they were saying so he decided to find the source. He kept on walking toward the voiced until he saw it. "Oh no" he said under his breath. He ran off as fast as he could. He had to find Mr. Frodo, and if he didn't hurry it wouldn't turn out good.

~*~

"It's getting darker…" merry said very worried. "What have I told you? He can't be far, he probably went back to bag-" "Shh!" Merry interrupted. "Did you hear that?" They froze to hear someone running down the road towards them. It was Samwise. "Mr. Frodo, Mr. Frodo!" Sam ran straight into Frodo. Frodo grabbed his arms and held him arm length away. "Breath Sam, Breath. What is it? Why are you in such a rush?" "Its its" Sam stopped to take a breath "Master pippin, He's climbing the big ole' oak tree, and that nasty Wendeck is just encouraging 'im!" Merry's eyes grew huge "What?! He couldn't! Nobody can climb that tree! Not without getting hurt at least!" Merry took off as fast as he could toward the big oak tree. Hoping he'd make it there in time.

TO BE CONTINUED


	3. Chapter 3

Pippin was really high up now. It almost scared him to look down. 'Why did I talk myself into doing this?' he asked himself. "Don't look down, or you might fall" yelled a voice from below. 'Oh that's right, I remember now' he had to stop for a moment to regain himself. He couldn't think of Merry and Frodo right now. Not if he wanted to get to the top. 'How high am I climbing again?' he asked himself. He looked up. 'Oh that's right' the last young hobbit who attempted to climb this tree got that far before he had to turn around. He fell on his way down. He hasn't been able to walk since.

~*~

Merry stopped on the side of the road, resting his hands on his thighs, breathing deeply. Sam and Frodo caught up and stopped to rest as well. Merry didn't even stop for a minute before he was off again down the path, leaving Frodo and Sam behind. He had to get there before something bad happened, something really bad, something he would never be able to live down. He knew it was his fault. He knew he shouldn't have said the things he said. He knew Pippin would probably never forgive him. He knew a lot, yet he just couldn't seem to do it right. It was his fault and if something happened to Pippin he would never forgive himself…ever.

~*~

Wendeck laughed to softly himself. "That Little gullible brat, he'd do anything for his 'dear Merry'. Ha, Dear Merry indeed. I almost feel bad for the lad, Merry that is, for having to deal with little Pippin following him around everywhere…but then again it is Merry. I wonder how high he'll get before he falls." He shielded his eyes and looked up at the tree. It sure was bright out today. It suddenly got darker…as if he was in a…shadow? He turned around to see a very very unhappy Merry standing over him.

~*~

"Almost…there" Pippin grunted. He reached for the branch. "Got it!" he yelled. He pulled himself up and was now sitting on the branch. He looked down to see Merry holding Wendeck up by the shirt collar. "Pippin, come down, now!" yelled Merry. Pippin couldn't believe it. After climbing this huge tree and everything Merry still thought he was a child. Pippin looked up. Maybe, just maybe he could climb a little higher. "Pippin don't you even think about it!" Merry yelled from below.

~*~

Merry shoved Wendeck against the tree. "Do you see what your doing?! Your going to get him killed! You've convinced him that he has to climb that tree, no matter what the cost is!" He slammed him into the tree again. Wendeck kicked him in the knee. Merry let go of Wendeck and grabbed his knee in pain. He surprised him by throwing an uppercut to the chin. Wendeck jumped back holding his chin in pain. He charged Merry and knocked him to the ground. He sat on his stomach punching him in the face repeatedly. He finally stopped. Merry had a nose bleed and a black eye. "This'll show you not to mess with me, Brandybuck." Wendeck said as he raised his hand for a final blow.

~*~

Frodo was running and approaching the big oak tree. "Mr. Frodo, No!" Sam said as he grabbed him by the back of his weskit and pulled him back behind a bush. "Sam what is it?" Frodo asked very agitated by Sam's antics. Sam put a finger to his mouth and pointed toward the base of the sycamore. They saw Merry being kicked in the knee by Wendeck and what appeared to be the beginning of a fight. "Then why are we stopping?! We got to help him!" Frodo hissed as he jumped up. Sam pulled him down again "Perhaps we should go get an older hobbit to settle this out, we'll probably just make it worse." Frodo though about it for a moment and agreed with Sam's opinion. They had to go get Bilbo, and fast.

~*~

Pippin looked down in awe. Wendeck was beating up Merry, his Merry. Merry was now on the ground with Wendeck punching him in the face. He stopped hitting him at last and said something Pippin couldn't make out. He saw him pull his hand back as if to throw a final blow. "NO!" Pippin leaned forward without thinking. Wendeck was startled by the voice and stopped his fist in mid-air. Merry didn't know what was hurting him more, the pain in his face, or the fact that Pippin was falling out of the tree screaming.


	4. Chapter 4

Okay i know this one is pretty short but i just found it on my computer, i didn't realize i typed it like a few months ago and forgot to upload it. Sorry i haven't written a lot lately, i've been busy with the end of my freshman year and exams have been hectic. I am back for the summer and I hope to finish these when i get back from camping. Please enjoy this short sad excuse for a fanfiction.

* * *

Pippin was falling. As he fell he reached out hoping to grab hold of something. He barely grabbed a big branch and hung there. Tears were streaming down his face. Why did he listen to Wendeck? He looked down and quickly looked away. He was closer to the ground than he was earlier but, it was still a pretty far drop down for a hobbit of his size. He had to make himself look down. He had to see if Merry was okay.

Merry looked up to see Pippin hanging from a branch he had somehow managed to grab a hold of. Wendeck was still looking up. Now was his chance, he had to do something to help Pip. He mustered up all of this strengh and threw Wendeck off of him. He ran toward the base of the tree not knowing what to do. He saw Pippin look down. He cupped his hands around his mouth "Don't look down Pippin" he yelled. "It'll be okay. I won't let you fall." Pippin remained where he was. Merry saw he was crying and felt a knot form in his throat. He didn't know what to do. Pippin's fingers started to slip and he let loose a squeal. "Hold on Pippin!" he yelled. He looked around but saw nothing that could help him. He looked up Pippin's left hand slipped off so he was hanging with only his left hand now. He had to do something quick. Pippin couldn't last much longer.

* * *

I just decided i like tormenting you guys with waiting ^^ jk, I'm not that mean. I've written about 3/4 of the next and possibly final chapter so it will be up soon. sorry for the wait


	5. Chapter 5

So here it finally is. Sorry for torturing you guys with such a long wait. I'll try to finish the next chapter of the other one today (no promises)

* * *

Pippin had never been more terrified in his life. He knew he wouldn't last much longer, even Merry couldn't save him now. The drop wasn't that far, but still, he would definitely face some sort of injury if he hit the ground from this height. He tried to reach with his right hand but couldn't seem to grab the branch. He looked down to see Merry yelling at him to not let go. 'that stupid cousin of mine, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't let go if I had the chance to keep holding on' Pippin though to himself. He was so scared and his hands were starting to sweat from his fear. He felt his remaining hand begin go slip. He couldn't hold on any longer. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the fall just as his hand slipped from the branch.

Pippin thought he was surely dead, all he could see was light…yet it burned his eyes. He moaned and tried to raise his arm to shield the light from his eyes, only to result in pain. In his arm he experienced a terrible burning pain. He moaned louder than before and heard the rustling of clothing, the light was suddenly drowned out by a figure leaning over him. Once pippin's sight had stopped swimming he made out the figure to be his friend Sam. 'wait? Sam!, what is sam doing here? I'm dead' Pippin's eyes filled with confusion.

"Oh, don't go hurting yourself with thinking to hard Master Pippin. Tis me, Samwise. You know me, yer cousin Frodo's gardener" Sam's eyes filled with pride at the last line.

"You fell out of that tree you felt so obligated to climb" his eyes full with slight anger but then sympathy. "But yer okay now, yer Merry was watching out for you." Pippin's eyes grew huge.

"Where's Merry? Is he okay?" Pippin nearly yelled as he tried to push himself up using his arm. Pippin yelped with pain and fell back to the bed defeated. Sam quickly repositioned him so his arm was hanging at his side uselessly.

"Don't try that again Master Pippin, broke your arm you did, when you fell from that oak." He said as he gently patted his uninjured arm.

"It isn't too bad though, you should be well within a couple of weeks. Why don't you get some rest now?"

Pippin's eyes grew heavy and he suddenly realized how tired he was. He mumbled Merry's name as he fell into a deep sleep.

Frodo felt extremely bad, it was his fault they hadn't gotten to Merry and Pippin quickly enough.

"I should have gotten there sooner!" He mumbled to himself as he carried a blanket into the guest room of Bag End. His expression of disdain quickly turned to a gaze of sympathy as he saw his young cousin Pippin sleeping. He quietly spread the blanket over him and brushed the hair that was straying over his eyes. He bent down to kiss his brow and then left the room silently. He walked to the room next to Pippin's and saw his other 'patient' laying in bed completely awake. When merry saw Frodo his eyes immediately widened and he opened his mouth as if to speak, but Frodo silenced him with a finger to his lips and his infamous 'Frodo glare'. He quietly placed the blanket over him, and gave him the answer he didn't want.

"Pippin is resting, and you should be too. A broken ribs are not to be taken lightly." and with that he left the room.

It was dark when pippin woke up next. 'Have I really slept the whole day away' he asked himself. He looked around the room and decided he couldn't sleep any longer. He pulled back the covers, carefully avoiding using his injured arm, jumped out of bed and quietly padded out of the room. He saw a candle down the hall and decided to avoid it, he was tired of being in bed and didn't feel like being sent back there any time soon. He had to find Merry and make sure he was okay. He tiptoed into the room he knew as Merry's every time they stayed at Bag End. Sure enough Merry was sleeping in his bed. Pippin walked over and climbed up into the bed beside him.

"Merry" he whispered in his cousin's ear. He didn't reply. "Merry" he whispered again. Merry stirred in his sleep and woke up. He moaned at the pain in his ribs but immediately brightened to see his cousin.

"Pippin! You're okay!" he whispered as he hugged his little cousin. They both winced in pain from their injuries and quickly released their hold upon one another.

"Merry, what happened? I don't remember a thing!" Pippin nearly yelled.

"Hush Pippin, do you want Frodo to come in here and make us rest some more?" responded Merry as he put a finger to his lips.

"And whatever would be wrong with that?" The two hobbits jumped at Frodo's voice and looked over to see him, Bilbo, and Sam all standing in the doorway.

"So much for that." Merry grumbled as he fell back onto his pillow.


	6. Chapter 6

Pippin gave his best fake smile.

"well no offense Frodo, you are a great cousin, but not so great of a doctor." he ended with a giggle. Sam and Bilbo quietly laughed behind their hands, while Merry grinned from ear to ear. Frodo mocked surprise.

"Surely I can't be that bad?" he looked back at Sam who immediately became serious.

"Am I?" he asked his over polite gardener.

Sam stuttered a response as quickly as he could mumbling about how 'young hobbits know nothing about healing and such'. Frodo smiled in response then turned to his accuser.

"See? Sam thinks I'm a great doctor" Pippin looked at Frodo as if with pity.

"It's okay Frodo, we know how you can be. If you want to be a doctor, you just try harder and MAYBE you'll get it one day." Merry laughed as Frodo nearly shouted.

"And who said I ever wanted to be a doctor?"

"Why you did of course." Pippin said through his act of confusion.

"wha-but-I…oh never mind! I see what you're doing Pip! You're just trying to confuse me so you can get out of trouble, well I'll tell you now that it won't work." He proved his words by crossing his arms and sticking one foot out, looking like a mother hen disapproving of her children. Bilbo finally stepped in with a laugh, well it looks like Frodo's 'patients' are feeling much better and could use a bit of time out of bed. He was immediately attacked by responses from two hobbits not used to spending much time in bed.

"Oh yes please cousin Bilbo! I feel like Frodo has been torturing me all the day with poisonous concoctions."

"Please can we perhaps have some actual food while we're at it?"

"And my arm actually is feeling much better!"

"Maybe something to drink as well?"

"Honest!"

Bilbo laughed in response.

"Calm down, calm down. Of course you can have something to eat, and drink; but you must be careful, it's not everyday you fall out of a very tall tree. In fact I think we all need something to eat and drink, I believe a celebrations is in han-"

"Uncle you can't be serious! A celebration!" Everyone was surprised by Frodo's sudeen outburst. He walked farther into the room so everyone could see him better.

"Didn't you see what just happened? How close that was?" he choked back a tear. "They're lucky they're the way they are! They could have been hurt much worse! They could have died!" He then collapsed on the ground silently sobbing into his hands.

The room was full of silence, only the simple sounds of a summer night could be heard through the window. Bilbo looked down as if taking a sudden interest in the woodwork of the floor. Sam walked over to Frodo and plopped down beside him, placing an arm around his shoulders. Pippin was most definitely confused now, he couldn't remember what this was all about, he barely remembered being mad at Frodo and Merry, but other than that, nothing. It was as if a full day had been erased from his memory. He couldn't remember what he did, but whatever it was…it wasn't good. It had to be terrible to make his second favorite cousin cry. When he thought back, he had never seen Frodo cry before. Frodo was always so strong, he was always there for him. Frodo wasn't scared of anything, not thunderstorms, not the dark, not even getting in trouble. Frodo was always the brave one. He remembered one time they were baking cookies at bag end and he accidentaly dropped the flour pot causing it to shatter all over the place, a piece cut Frodo's leg and it was bleeding pretty badly. Pippin started to cry knowing he had caused it but Frodo didn't shed a single tear, instead he picked him up and told him it was just an accident and he would be fine. He didn't even cry as Bilbo cleaned the cut and applied a bandage. But now…he had made Frodo cry…he had done something so terrible that he made one of the strongest, bravest hobbits he knew…cry. Pippin bit his lip and tried to hold back the tears the felt coming. He felt a lump in his throat and knew he couldn't hold them back much longer. He looked up at Merry to see him looking at Frodo with pain in his eyes. He hurt everybody didn't he? Why did he always have to mess up? He felt the tears start running down his cheeks, he tried to hold them back but couldn't, they started to come faster and before he knew it he was full out crying. He felt Merry quickly hold him in an embrace and hold him to his chest, ignoring the pain it caused his ribs. He cried into his shoulder and tried to find the familiar comfort it brought him whenever he was upset. He felt bad for Merry, always having to put up with him, he was always there no matter how difficult it was, he was his best friend and was always there when he needed him, so he cried for Merry. He thought of how good Bilbo always was to them, and he always allowed them to do the most fun things, yet he just hurt him by hurting Frodo, so he cried for Bilbo. He thought about Sam and how close he was to Frodo so he definitely hurt him, he remembered all of the times he messed up the garden he always worked hard on and how he would always take it without even yelling at him. Sam deserved better, so he cried for Sam. But most importantly…he cried for Frodo. Frodo was one of his closest cousins, they always had so much fun together and he always took them on little adventures, he said one day, they'd go on bigger adventures and do great things. Sometimes when Merry went to play with the older kids, Frodo would just skip out and play with Pippin instead, yet Pippin just hurt him…so he cried for Frodo. He was crying so hard at his point that he didn't notice the hand rubbing small circles on his back and someone holding his hand. He knew the hand was Sam's but who would be rubbing his back? Cousin Bilbo? He looked up to see the face he least suspected, wearing a half smile. Pippin looked up into the bright blue, loving, always forgiving eyes of his strongest and bravest cousin, Frodo, and then…he remembered everything that happened.


End file.
